Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1887-02-25
TIE " IN TINEL..
ROCK WILLIE, MD
Friday Morning. ..... February Is, 1887
EVIDENCE OF IMPROVEMENT

F4D1uOAI UT lml ~ hlH NV
An evidence of the improvement imper-
ceptibly gsing on in popular taste may be
found in the character Of the literature now
being brought before the public and the
manner in which it is printed and bound.
Some years ago, not so many either, the
principal care with the publishers was the
exterior Communication of books and the
quality of the paper on which they were
printed. Something to pleasantly attract
the eye, thing Of show that would set the
palm Of the superficial judge to itching, was
the object to which skill and improvement
were devoted. If the covers were of velum,
the cardboard leaves gilded, and the pages
within graced by the sngraver's art, any
book was thought to be suitable present,
and it mattersd but little whether the mat
ter SO lavisbly set off were babe ballad,
fable Of fsherman's daughter, or an i'm
mortal production Of genius. In many old
libraries, tucked away new in an obscure
corner in shame-facsd manner, may be
found one or two OF these tricks of trade,
the owners Of which have never SO much as
read page OF the cheap literature with 50
expensive casing
In recent years the publishers seem to
have become alive TO the fact that there
should be soul within as well as beauty
without, that the book should be book as
well as lot Of merchandise, and we see
now that the most costly books are those
devoted to the identifying of some noble
poem or edfying story. This can hardly
be accredited to the superior choice of pub
lshers so much as the refinement of the
public demand, the popular disrelish Of in.
anity clothed in royal attire. One feels a
sort of disgust to see paste diamonds in a
respondent casket, evidently made for the
rarest brilliant, and there has grown a sim.
liar distaste tor tawdry rhymes and vapid
stories by unknown scribbers, done up in
a style that should belong only to the works
of Shakespeare, q Goldsmith, Tennyson, a
Byron, a Browning, or a Whittier.
The commercial makers of books have
been forced to acknowledge the inspired
writers OF books, and in gracefully yielding
to the higher demand have added an inesti-
mable value To the same, and are helping
the spread of education and the culture OF
taste. Tive Of the most superb books to be
found in the stores at present, both unique
and expensive, are reproductions of Gold
smiths "She Stops to Conquer" and Oliver
Wendell Holmes Last Leaf" The highest
art has been devoted to the material embel.
lishment of these works--art that in itself
delights and charms, exciting the liveliest
admiration Of Its beauty, and yet, for all its
exquisite grace and dalntiness, seeming "a
be no more than tribute to the riches oil
thought, the wealth Of imagery, the sublm.
ity Of sentiment that, in the language Of the
respective authsrs, constitute the chief glory
of the prize.
Books of this description are valuable In
a double sense-readers will esteem the sou
of the work above its elegant surroundings
or else find the ideas more beautiful because
so ideally illustrated. 1t is well to CRAFTY
the eye. External loveliness attracts, and
when 1t invites to something worth the ser.
ious thought ofintelligent minds it is thing
to be approved as helping to awaken the
Imagination fully to enjoy the lofty fancies
that live in the word painting Of the true
poet, whether be write In metre or In prose
This reform has been most directed to sat
isfy the mature or adult reader. Something
also should be done 10 elevate the tone o
works likely to tall within the grasp O
younger minds. 1t is more important tina
the minds of the young should be allurst
TO the reading of choice works than tn,
minds OF older and perhaps settled readers
1t is well worth trying TO have fine class
of literature made the basis Of beautiful
books for the young, and such care woulC
in few years turn the attention Of parent
from purchasing only such works as woulS
be perpetual delight TO the mind